FORT
WAINWRIGHT, ALASKA - The Army trains Soldiers to use
sophisticated weapons and prepares them for combat. They
prepare for a variety of battlefield situations and are
determined to groom a team of defenders who are complete
in body, mind and soul.

Part of this
comprehensive preparation is being developed through a
fairly new program called the Army’s “Master Resiliency
Training Course,” which is part of Comprehensive Soldier
Fitness. The MRT program is designed to enhance a
Soldier’s mettle and mental thinking and focus on the
five dimensions of strength: emotional, social,
spiritual, family and physical, as recently described in
a www.army.mil article by Sgt. 1st Class Manuel
Torres-Cortes, Army North public affairs.

Staff Sgt.
Jordan Goers, master resiliency trainer with the 2nd
Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Stryker
Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Fort
Wainwright recently completed the course. The MRTs
receive their training at the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia or Victory University at Fort Jackson,
SC.

“My personal
definition of MRT, is building Soldiers’ personal
resilience to enhance their effectiveness and
well-being, to develop their leadership potential and to
maintain a fully mission-capable force in any military
spectrum of operation,” Goers said.

MRT
instructors are their unit commanders’ advisors on CSF.

“They train
the unit on all aspects regarding MRT. They are not,
however, counselors and should not be used as such,”
Goers said. The MRT’s job is to train Soldiers on all
modules of the program and allow the individual to use
the tools taught to fix issues and handle problems. It
is the responsibility of the trainers to ensure Soldiers
in the unit are grasping the concept behind the program.

“The
trainers can’t make the Soldier use everything taught,”
Goers said. “But [they] need to make sure they see the
link between what is taught and how to use it.”

The program
is a device that helps Soldiers, whether new to the
Army, in a garrison environment, or in combat, deal with
stressors that occur in life.

“It’s great
for family members and Department of Army civilians
too,” Goers said, “because Soldiers aren’t the only ones
dealing with the stress and issues from deployment or
that of day-to-day operations. It also benefits everyone
because it helps create a positive environment and
attitude not just Soldier to Soldier, but husband and
wife, mother-father and son-daughter and so on,”

He said it
can have a positive influence in all relationships,
which in turn makes for a healthier, more resilient
lifestyle.

The goal of
the program is not to change everyone to meet one
specific criterion, according to Goers.

“Everyone
has deeply rooted beliefs and everyone has emotions,”
Goers said. “I believe [emotional awareness, social
communications, family values and spiritual beliefs] are
important. People are who they are and it’s the vast
differences in people that make relationships between
one another an overall progression.

“The key
thing is for people to see themselves as they are and
identify areas or aspects of themselves or their lives
that needs a positive adjustment and then being open to
that change,” he said. “The better someone understands
themselves and why they do what they do because of their
communication skills or those deep beliefs, the stronger
they become as a person and (more able) to build
strengths needed to overcome things they don’t handle so
well.”

Another
participant in the training, Sgt. 1st Class Skeet Styer,
2-8th, 1-25th SBCT said, “The most challenging part of
learning resiliency and balance is being honest with
yourself.”